Belgium – Wilmots Confident About Lukaku’s Recovery Ahead Of The World Cup

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Belgium manager Marc Wilmots is confident that Romelu Lukaku will recover in time for their opener against Algeria in the World Cup.

The 21-year-old striker faced an injury scare as he limped off the field due to an ankle injury during Belgium’s friendly against Tunisia. It provided Marc Wilmots with lots to worry about ahead of the World Cup as his side are already short on striker following the absence of Aston Villa forward Christian Benteke due to a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Lukaku replaced young forward Divock Origi in the second half of the match against Tunisia, but had to be replaced before full-time following his injury. Lille striker Origi, who started only 12 matches for the French club last season, is the only other frontman in the squad, other than Lukaku, and the Chelsea forward’s absence would have been a big blow to their hopes in the tournament.

But Marc Wilmots has dismissed those fears and insisted that Lukaku’s hasn’t suffered a serious injury. He is confident that the big striker will return well in advance of their World Cup opener against Algeria on 17th of June.

“He’s in pain but the doctors don’t think it’s too serious, at least at first glance.

“He will be checked over more closely on Sunday but it’s probably a bad sprain. Hopefully he just needs three or four days to recover.” – Wilmots said after the match.

Wilmots was also complained about Tunisia’s physical approach during the friendly and revealed that a lot of players suffered from knocks after the game.

“I had hoped there wouldn’t be any injuries but in the changing rooms all I saw were bruises and ice-packs.” – Wilmots added.

Belgium are widely being considered as one of the dark horses in the tournament and are expected to progress with ease from their group which also consists of teams like Algeria, Russia and South Korea.